


Intertwined

by QTV7



Category: Mass Effect Trilogy
Genre: Colonist (Mass Effect), F/M, Mass Effect 1, Mass Effect 2, Mass Effect 3, Paragon Shepard (Mass Effect), Post-Mass Effect 3, Pre-Mass Effect 1, Pre-Mass Effect 2, Pre-Mass Effect 3, Slow Burn, War Hero (Mass Effect)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-26
Updated: 2020-08-24
Packaged: 2021-03-05 23:29:04
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 14,760
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25523647
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/QTV7/pseuds/QTV7
Summary: No Shepard without Vakarian. This is my original story of how these two heroes came together to save a galaxy from Saren, The Collectors and The Reapers.
Relationships: Female Shepard/Garrus Vakarian
Kudos: 11





	1. First Time on The Citadel

**Author's Note:**

> I Hope You Enjoy Reading!  
> This is my first time writing a fan fic ever! So I was very nervous the whole time I was writing it!  
> Leave any constructive criticism you guys have! Thanks!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A Turian boy and Human girl have very different experiences on The Citadel.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi this is my first ever Fan Fic! I hope you enjoy it!  
> Please feel free to leave a comment or criticism in the comments!

“Garrus, Sol; you might want to look out the window now.” Naeria Vakrian said  
“That’s what Dad works on?!?! It’s huge!” Sol exclaimed while practically jumping in the air for joy.  
Garrus couldn’t believe his eyes, not about the space station, he knew the Citadel had to be big to fit the number of people he learned it housed at the academy. But he couldn’t believe the size of the ship that was following the two Turian Frigates.  
“It’s called The Destiny Ascension, it’s the biggest ship in Citadel Space Garrus. The Asari unvallied it this year.” Naeria said as she noticed Garrus’s Mandibles flick with excitement.  
“How big do you think the gun is Mom? It has to be at least double the size of a Turian frigates gun!” Garrus asked.  
“At Least!” Naeria laughed.

The Captain came on the speaker and relayed to the passengers that they were preparing to dock. For Garrus and Solana this would be the first time they were at the Citadel, actually the first time they ever left Palaven. Even for Naeria to be at the Citadel was an oddity, the only time she would come here would be if Castis had an important C-Sec function that he needed to attend. Naeria let out a sub vocal that Garrus clearly picked up on, she was nervous. Naeria turned to him and said  
“You have orders from your father, your job is to keep hold of Sol’s and my hand at all times. You think you can do that soldier?”  
“Yes Ma’am” Garrus said as he saluted his mom, this made her crack a smile.

As the Vakarians made their way through the wards as they headed to C - Sec, Garrus saw the aliens that he grew up seeing on Palaven. The short and stubby Volus, the bright blue Asari that ran some shops he went to on Palaven and even some Salarian’s that weren’t too many in size on Palaven. Naeria then slowed up and walked to the Secretary, it seems they had reached C-Sec. Garrus and Solana stood by her side while she was talking.  
“What’s that?!?!” Sol asked Garrus while pointing.  
He looked over to see a long Purple Jellyfish.  
“A Hanar. You learn about them and other Citadel Creatures next year Sol.” Garrus stated.  
“No, not the Hanar, that!” She pointed at the C-Sec Officer who was talking to the Hanar. It was a pink squishy looking thing that was half the size of the hannar. It was screaming at the Hanar with it’s arms in the air.  
“Spirits.” Garrus said, will his mandibles flickered nervously, it was a human. The first time he felt scared in forever. All they taught him at academy about humans are they are dangerous, angry, stubborn and impatient creatures. He overheard his father one night talking to his mother about the first human on C-Sec and how pathetic he was, and how he would accept a bribe from anyone if it meant not doing his job.  
“It’s a Human Solana.” Castis' harsh and deep voice answered.  
“Daddy!!” Sol jumped to her father as he scooped her up. Naeria gave Castis a warm subvocal that he returned with a lowered forehead that she touched with hers.  
“Did you follow orders?” He questioned Garrus.  
“Yes sir!”  
“Good, you’ll make a fine soldier yet.” Castis smiled. He turned to Naeria and stated  
“We have to make a stop at the embassies before we get to the Hospital.”  
“Is it urgent?” Naeria pondered.  
“Yes, there’s a shouting match in the human embassy with the ambassador and the great officer Harkin. The volus ambassador has filed a complaint about, since it’s on the way and we have time, I figured I would handle it.” Castis said.  
“What about the kids and I?” Naeria started.  
“You’ll be fine in the lobby.” Castis replied.  
“Fine, just make it quick.” Naeria stated.

When they reached the embassy, Castis headed up to the human embassy while Garrus and his family sat on a bench. Garrus sat down and started to think to himself.

What a fun trip, walking around this giant station to do nothing but wait for dad. I thought we would at least look at some Ships or Ancient War Memorials at least but no. All we are doing is Dad’s job and going to the stupid hospital.

Garrus looked across the embassy lobby to see 4 more humans. Two were in armor so must they have been a part of their Alliance that he heard was their military like the Turian Hierarchy. The other one also had her back turned to him and was in civilian clothes which looked pretty dirty and stained. The third was small, must have been a child, she was smaller than him but bigger than sol. There was something strange about her too. Garrus stared.

 _What is with this human, it looks like her hair is on fire. It’s so red like it was dipped in paint or something. What is with those dots on her face too. Even her clothes are dirty and stained just like the taller human._  
The smaller human then turned and made eye contact with Garrus.  
_Wow, her eyes are like really green. I wonder if all human kids look like her, I mean I’ve never seen another hu…_  
“HI!”  
_What?!? Did she just speak? Wait is she speaking to me?!?!_  
Garrus looked at his mom and sister who were just smiling. He panicked, his mandiables started to twitch nervously as he started to look around like the human was talking to someone else.  
“Hi! I’m talking to you!” The girl screamed over.  
_Oh Spirits!! What do I do? Do I say hi back, I’ve never seen a human let alone talk to one, What do I DO!_  
As Garrus was thinking to himself the redhead little girl got off the bench and walked over to Garrus and his family.  
_OH SPIRITS NO!!_  
She walked over and looked him in the eye and outstretched her arm as a handshake and said  
“Hi I’m Jane, Nice to meet you.”  
Garrus froze and looked over to his mother for help. She just smiled and shook her head at him.  
_Oh crap._  
“...hhHi.” Garrus stuttered. As he shook her hand  
“Sorry, I saw you staring at me and I thought there’s a kid who hasn’t seen aliens yet and thought i’d come over to show how scary us aliens are.” She said while smiling at Garrus. Garrus just stood there completely shocked. No Turian children acted this forward to another stranger, even if they were kids.  
“I have never met a Turian and I saw you, it seemed like it was the galaxy that told me to come over and meet you! Do you have a name?” Jane asked while still smiling at Garrus.  
“Um… yeah. Garrus, my name is Garrus.” he said.while nervously fidgeting with his talons.  
“Garrus? What a cool name! So Garrus are you from a colony or from your home world, ah crap, which one is it again..?” she said as she was frustrated trying to rack her brain to remember.  
“Palaven. Do they not teach you the home worlds at the academies on Earth?” Garrus responded to Jane.  
“I knew it started with a P. Probably but I’m from a colony, Mindior, and my family need my help on the farm so I help them while getting home schooled… So do you want to play tag?”  
Garrus couldn't believe it not only was this human talking to him but now she wanted to play with him. Fortunately at this moment Castis and a human at his side walked up to him and his mother.  
“Mrs. Vakarian, a pleasure.” said the human.  
“Ahh Ambassador Udina, A pleasure to see you again.” said Naeria  
“As I was telling Castis here you too should come to Citadel more often I would love to have you for dinner.” Udina Stated  
“Thank you for the offer ambassador but we really must be going as we cannot be late to the hospital now.” Castis said  
“Of course, oh are these your children how cu… who is this human child? Wait a minute SHEPARD! Get over here now Lieutenant!”  
Suddenly one of the Armored Humans came running over to Udina.  
“Sir?” The man saluted.  
“May you tell me why our Turian friends here had to deal with your shit covered daughter here.The smell alone would scare off anyone. APOLOGIZE and meet me in my office…. Castis, Naeria.” Udina walked away.  
“Jane! Go to your Mother, NOW!” The Soldier Yelled.“I apologize to you both.” The soldier said.  
“No need your child is very lovely and didn’t bother us in the slightest.” Naeria said, trying to diffuse the situation.  
The soldier made a hmmph sound and marched away  
As he turned and marched away. Garrus was staring at Jane as she was completely different now. Her bright smile was gone and her head was hanged down in shame as she turned and she turned and started to walk away.  
“Bye Garrus” she whimpered.  
“I hate that man Castis.” Naeria said with anger in her subvocals.  
“Udina is the best representation of humanity Naeria, he will do anything to gain more political favor and get ahead. He believes sucking up to me will get him closer to the executor or hell even the primarch.” Castis stated as they began to walk.  
What started off as a boring trip for Garrus he couldn’t believe how strange it turned. But they needed to get to the hospital, who knows maybe after Garrus could see some ships.

Back at Udina’s Office…

“Are you kidding me Lieutenant, You think you should be promoted?!?!? With Your service record your lucky I don't derank you and you dragged your ass to the citadel to request more troops for the Mindoir garrison?!?!” Udiana Screamed  
“Sir?”  
“You brought your wife and daughter who are covered in God knows what and have them sit across one of the most influential families on the citadel. Then your daughter has the brilliant idea to go and speak to them in the state that she is in, smelling like a dead corpse, and embarrasses not just the Alliance but the entire species probably and you have the gall to ask for more troops?!?!”  
“But sir, how…”  
“Let me tell you something Lieutenant, the only reason we are having this meeting is because you helped secure that package I needed in the Traverse on your way here. The needs of Mindoir are not high on the scale when it comes to colonies.”  
Lieutenant Shepard stood there and was unsure how to respond.  
“Sir I understand that, but clearly the needs…”  
“The needs of Mindoir are not of pressing concern, You are a farming colony! You do not provide any financial recompense to the Alliance unlike Eden Prime or Terra Nova. Those Colonies are always at the potential risk of mercs and pirates stealing cargo. We need to be ever vigilant.”  
“But sir, there has been an increase in Batarian ships in..”  
“Listen Lieutenant, I will say this and then our meeting is over. Even if you have seen Batarian ships in the area of the colony we cannot commit resources until the threat is real. If something happens the alliance will respond, but we cannot waste precious resources which can be used to further humanity’s power in this galaxy. Sacrifices will have to be made. If a ship disappears or something happens that you believe slavers had a hand in then contact us until then on your own.” Udina stated  
Shephard couldn’t believe his luck and looked at the ground.  
“Now this would have been my response today no matter what happened, even if your daughter didn’t single handle embarrass me infront of the Vakarian. So I wish you luck Lieutenant.”

The Lieutenant marched down and Jane knew she was in trouble. The anger in his eyes made her realise this was going to be a long flight home. When they reached the colony’s ship. Shepard’s mother Hannah looked up and asked  
“So no promotion?”  
“No promotion?!?!? We didn’t even get the FUCKING troops!” he exclaimed  
“What?!?! What about the missing colonists? What are we gonna tell their families!” Hannah panicked.  
“I know, I tried literally everything, I thought I was gonna have to fight him in Udina’s office but he wouldn’t listen, he probably would have listened if some little shit wasn’t so goddamn useless.” The Lieutenant glared at Jane.  
“Enough! It’s not her fault you didn’t get the promotion or the troops, it's Udiana’s!” Hannah tried to focus the Lieutenant. But the Lieutenant just brushed her off as he always did.  
Jane tried to bury her head in her arms. She was hurt, anytime something goes wrong it’s the same story. It’s her fault, she’s not what he wanted, she’s a nuisance to him, a problem that needs to go away. No matter how hard she worked on the farm or how hard she studied, nothing was good enough for him. She wasn’t good enough. The tears began to well in shepherds eye’s.  
“Not her fault, because of her I didn’t get the promotion I was due!! Who’s fault is that? Huh Hannah because of her I am not Commander Shepard, I am still a lowly Lieutenant!!! If I had a son I would be. I wouldn’t have to worry about the fucking farm or your saftey, I could just work on my Career, but because I had the stupid girl, I am worthless!” The Lieutenant screamed as he punched the ship's dash.  
“I’m sorry!!! Okay I’m sorry I’m never good enough!” Jane let out while crying uncontrollably.She curled into a ball as she continued to cry. She felt alone as she always did, no one was there for her.  
Her father turned around and said  
“You should be sorry, because of you Commander Shepard will never exist.”


	2. Cadet

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The beginning of Garrus's military career!

“Cadet Vakarian on your feet! You're on the clock.” exclaimed Captain Camus.  
Garrus jumped to his feet and saluted the captain and prepared to get to work in the mess hall.  
Garrus had been aboard The Resolute for a week now. Garrus knew that to get the respect of his crewmates he had to do all the menial tasks asked of him for the good of the crew. There is no complaining, you do what is expected as all good Turain’s do.

“They're making us eat this slop again? Vakarian you sure they don’t have anything better back in the kitchen you could whip up?” A Turian Private asked.  
“No Private, unfortunately all we have is this, or we have some levo food rations you could have..” Garrus replied.  
“Acckk.. I’ll stick with the slop Cadet.” The Private replied

The shift dragged on, but Garrus couldn't help but feel indifferent and bored. Not that he had to serve meals in the mess, but he could have been so much more. He could be on Palaven right now receiving high level training, Spectre level training. He could be learning how to hone his skills and become a deadly killing machine. He could be receiving special training from Turain Spectres themselves as they are known to get involved with the program themselves.He wanted to become a Spectre, one who could bring justice to an unjust galaxy. Unfortunately for Garrus he was born a Vakarian.

**On Palaven 1 month ago…**

“Absolutely not.” Castis stated while looking right back at Garrus.  
“Why not? I have the scores! I was even top of my class in accuracy from long range!” Garrus pleaded to his father.  
“You are not receiving Spectre Training, that is not the path for you Garrus.” Castis replied with calm manor as his son seemed to get more desperate trying to convince him otherwise.  
“But it’s my path, with Spectre Training I could get a fast track to becoming a Spectre, isn’t that a respectable path?” Garrus almost seemed as if he was on the verge of either attacking Castis or crying.  
“No.” Castis replied.  
“Won’t you even tell me why?!” Garrus begged.  
“Fine. I’ll tell you because everything a Spectre does is not for the good of the galaxy. It’s not always the right thing.” Castis stated.  
Garrus just stared at his father letting him continue his explanation.  
“You say you want to bring justice to the galaxy. You can bring justice if you are in C-Sec by doing things the right way. Yes it’s true Garrus, C-Sec has its flaws, not every suspect gets caught or corruption through the ranks. But the rules and regulations of C-Sec are there for two reasons. One to keep the innocent safe and two to keep a C-Sec officer in check. Could you imagine if a C-Sec officer had the power to question any citizen he wanted without any proof but his own word? The chaos that it would cause would be catastrophic. Officers would abuse the power and put any innocent that pissed them off in their line of fire and because it’s the law the innocent couldn’t do anything to protect himself.”  
Garrus continued to watch his father as he could tell he was getting more passionate as he talked about the difference between Spectres and C-Sec.  
“With a Spectre there is no law or consequence. There is nothing but their word, if one Spectre believed killing 1000 innocents to get 1 man was the only option to get the perp, they would do it without even thinking. Is that justice Garrus? Could you kill 1000 innocent people to get your target and come out the other side as the same Turian? Or would you be changed? Would you become something worse than a protector of the galaxy? When they talk about the achievements of the Spectres on the news do they bring up the tragedies they cause for innocent people? Could you resist the power that would be at your fingertips Garrus? The power that you could cause a tragedy only to classify it as justice? Could you Garrus? I don’t think I could, so I won’t put my son in that position either.” Castis stated while directly looking at Garrus now.

Garrus was utterly devastated, but he knew he would never be able to change his father's mind. He knew he was a C-Sec man, he knew that his father’s plan would be to join him at C-Sec. But Garrus wanted something more.  
“What about a compromise? After you graduate to Cadet class, you join the fleet and serve on a ship?” Castis asked, as if he was extending an Olive branch to Garrus. “You can always request a transfer from the fleet to C-Sec if you don’t feel it is your place to serve in the fleet. C-Sec will always have a position for you if I am there.”  
Garrus knew this was the best he could hope for with his father and gladly accepted.  
“It’s better than sanitation duty at the C-Sec Hq for the first couple years of my service.” Garrus jokes.  
“I wouldn’t be too sure about that.” Castis said with a wry smirk on his face.  
“So Dad, maybe we shoul..” Garrus’s omni-tool interrupted and he picked up.  
“Garrus?”  
“Sol? What’s wrong?” Garrus asked.  
“It’s mom.. she’s had an episode again, we were out shopping this time.”  
“I see.. Dad and I will see you at the hospital.” Garrus hung up the call.

**Back on The Resolute…**

As the night shift in the mess hall began, Garrus noticed a huge group of troops in the mess this time. The only time the ship’s crew would have a break where this many troops were off duty would be when they were at a refueling station. On Turian ships usually you have to be alert at all situations, but even on the strictest of frigates down time is ok during refueling. One Turian Sergeant stood up and made an announcement.  
“Since the private won today’s sparring matches, so we all will have to cover for him!”  
The Turians all jeered the private and made loud bangs on the mess hall tables.  
“But since the Lieutenant here assured me he was going to knock out all male or female challengers he has lost today’s bet.”  
An even louder cheer and bangs were met to that announcement.  
“The punishment today is simple, eat as much levo rations before you get sick!” the sergeant commanded. He then turned to the Lieutenant and asked if he was allergic and he nodded no, so the bet was on!  
“Bring em here Cadet, and let’s see the Lieutenant get to work!”  
The Turians all watched and cheered as the Lieutenant got through 4 packets of levo rations before he started puking all over the table.  
“Only 4 well, Lieutenant the cadet isn’t the only one cleaning up the mess, that’s your job!”  
The comradery between the soldiers is something that Garrus was beginning to appreciate. Not only could he tell that it was something each soldier cherished but, he knew that every single Turian would die for the other if needed. But cleaning up after their messes was getting annoying.  
After the Turian soldiers left and the mess was cleaned up. Garrus sat back and started to relax when the Turian Captain, Navigator and Helmsman walked in. Garrus Saluted the Turians, they acknowledged and grabbed some coffee and continued their conversation which Garrus  
listened into.  
“So did they run to the Council yet?” asked the Helmsmen.  
“It was probably the first thing they did when they heard they were under attack, probably didn’t even fight back yet, just called the council.” laughed the Navigator  
“I heard the ambassador requested council aid, before even notifying the Alliance, letting all those humans die in their colony!” the Helmsmen said as he and the navigator were still laughing.  
The Captain responded in a serious tone  
“Serves them right, Humanity continues to expand and request for more colonies instead of protecting and building upon the colonies they already have.”  
“Apparently the Slavers took the world and held it for 3 days as they encountered no resistance until Alliance reinforcements showed up. Those Batarian bastards probably had all sorts of fun while they ruined that colony.”  
“Ha no shit. Which colony was it?”  
“ **Mindior**.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank You For Reading!  
> Please feel free to leave any constructive comments!  
> The next chapter is mindoir so it will definitely be longer than this chapter so it might take a little more time to come out!


	3. Morning on Mindoir

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's Jane Shepard's 16th birthday! What could possibly go wrong.

“Ughh” Jane sighed as she looked at her Omni-Tool as the alarm which was set for five was going off. She got up with a stretch and looked out the window.   
“Great another day with no clouds to block the sun while we work.” Jane rolled her eyes while she started to get changed.   
The view from her room was about the only thing that Jane would enjoy in the mornings. When she looked out she could see the Mindoir Star just peak over the Gran Valley Mountains at the break of dawn. Sometimes you could see the passing of Alliance ships leaving the planet from the space port.   
Jane made her way down to the kitchen where a cup of coffee toast and a small package was left on the table. The package was wrapped with some birthday balloon wrapping paper, and all it said on the top was “To Janey”. Only Hannah, Jane’s mother would call her that. Jane smiled and grabbed a kitchen knife to slit the gift open, but there was a note on the inside. She put the knife down on the table and read the note.

“Sorry I couldn’t get you on one for your sweet sixteen!! Maybe this will be a good place holder till we get you up there!” 

Jane pulled out what was a model of an Alliance Trident. The fastest ships in the Alliance. When she was smaller Jane always would go on to her mother how she would be the fastest pilot the Alliance would ever see. 

Hannah made a promise that if she could, she would try and get an Alliance pilot to come out and at least let Jane fly with her. An impossible wish but one she used to humor her mother with. 

For the last two years Hannah had always gone out of the way to make sure Jane was happy on Mindoir. Hannah knew life was not easy for Jane.   
Jane had one constant negative for the first half of her life. Her father. No matter what Jane accomplished in her short life it amounted to nothing in her father’s eyes. When Jane showed biotic abilities, her father was not proud, instead he called her a freak and no child of his. When Jane was younger she accepted her father's verbal abuse with no answering back just tried to see if anything else would make him happy. But as she got older, she began to defend herself more and more. When Jane’s father Chad would insult her for not mounting to anything she would remind him that the alliance was so proud of their lieutenant they hid him away in a nowhere colony. Chad could never take it and it came to a boiling point when Chad saw a letter for Jane to attend an alliance academy off world.

“Where do you get off? Trying to get off this world on my dime, instead of working on the fields which barely bring us a profit?!?!” Chad screamed as he slammed the letter infront of Jane.

“What? You don’t have to pay anything the Alliance offered me a scholarship. Fully paid. You don’t have to do anything. I am sure that’s a relief for you.” Jane responded in kind matching his level of scream.  
“My biotic abilities were reported to the Alliance Academy and they want me to join with no charge. They’ve seen our financial situation and proposed aid. Unlike you, they think I have the talent to be a good addition to the service.” Jane said with a smirk creeping on her face, knowing she hurt him.  
“YOU LITTLE BITCH!!” Jane’s smirk disappeared when her father lunged across the room with his hand raised. As he swung Jane ducked but his arm was intercepted by her mother’s hand grasping Chads. As Jane opened her eyes, the thing she will always remember is the face of her father in complete shock as Hannah uppercut him right in the jaw. Jane was happy to help her mother, so she put as much biotic force into a punch right in his gut and sent flying. 

“OUT NOW!” Hannah screamed!

When Jane’s father Chad tried to hit Jane it was the last straw. She kicked him out and never wanted to see him ever again. Hannah was stricken with guilt. She curled on the floor and started to sob. She couldn’t believe she let this monster torture her child for years without recompence except an argument here or their. She felt as she abandoned her own daughter to a man she knew was a monster. But Jane knew different. She knew every time Hannah argued she would receive a beating. Everytime her monster of dad didn’t get his way he took it out on poor Hannah. So there was no anger, only relief. She got down next to her Mother and hugged her and they embraced each other. Her mom looked at her in her eyes and said.

“From now on it’s just us. We have each other’s backs. I won’t ever let anyone harm you.” She wrapped her arms around Jane and they just sat there together. 

A great memory that Jane would never forget, but she put the package down and grabbed her coffee and toast to go. It was time to get to the fields and put in some work. 

Well not work the fields but make sure the VI’s and drones working the fields where running right. They could never go a full day without malfunctioning or even straight up breaking. 

“It’s better than manual farming the fields like we had to, Janey!” her mother would always remind her, whenever Jane made a smart remark about how worthless the Drone’s or VI’s where.   
“I’m not saying we ditch the drones but, can we at least upgrade them? I mean hell this one right here is like 35 years old.” Jane said while she was reworking a drone plows circuits. 

“You know we could sell your Dad’s shit! ” Hannah laughed “He still has returned to pick up anything after we kicked his ass 2 years ago. He probably hasn’t left the base except to go to the bar!” Jane and Hannah began to laugh.

As the day moved on Jane was getting more and more frustrated with the drones breaking down.  
“For Fuck’s sake! It’s the second time today that I have to fix the fertilizer drone!” Jane said as she kicked it.

“Janey why don’t w…” Jane noticed Hannah’s mouth was still moving but there was no sound coming out. 

Until a loud sharp screeching noise flooded her ear drums causing her to close her eyes and grab her ears and scream. When Jane opened her eyes she brought her hands down from her ears and noticed blood. When she looked at her mother the same thing was happening to her, but sound was returning to them both. 

“Wha.. What was that?” Jane stuttered to get out.  
“I don’t know but whatever it was seems to have knocked out the rest of the drones and VI’s” Hannah responded with heavy breathing.  
Jane looked up and immediately noticed which seemed to be an explosion in the high atmosphere.  
“What's that.” Jane said while pointing up to her mother. Once Hannah saw this fear began to consume her.  
“Oh God… Jane we have to run to the Allianc….” as Hannah was beginning to explain both Jane and Hannah froze. 5 Frigates, not alliance or any known origin to them appeared over the Gran Valley Mountains. They all looked so different, like they weren’t even a part of the same fleet. The Ships were floating above both Shepards as they continued to look in fear, when suddenly they fired. Not at the colony but at the base.

“Jane we have to run NOW!” Hannah stood up and grabbed Jane’s hand but instead of leading Jane to the house she led her to the barn. Hannah made Jane Climb up a ladder and hide on the overhead ceiling of the barn.

“Now pull the latter up!” Hannah said when Jane got to the top.  
“What?!?! No!! Get UP HERE!” Jane screamed.  
“I can’t. Not yet. I need to get back to the house and grab a gun so we can protect ourselves out here.” Hannah replied while pushing the latter up with her own strength.   
“WHAT! NO! YOU HAVE TO STAY!” Jane lashed out hysterically as she began to cry. 

Before Hannah could reply there were sounds of explosions going off in the distance. The Base had been destroyed, it wouldn’t be long until whatever was in the ships came to the surface side now.  
Hannah Collected herself and looked up at her daughter.  
“Listen, Jane if I don’t get us a weapon we will die up here because they will check here eventually but I need to get to the house before these bastards start landing. So stay up there and wait for me. 1. Make sure you stay as quiet as possible. 2. Answer to no calls of your name even if I call you. 3.If I don’t make it back, I love you Janey and always will.” Hannah said as she began to shut the barn doors.  
Before she shut them she looked up at Jane, who tried one last attempt at convincing her mother.  
“We are a team, don’t abandon me.” Jane croaked out while sobbing.  
“Never.” Hannah said with a smile as she shut the doors.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed reading!  
> As Always leave any constructive criticism or comments you have!


	4. Hell on Mindoir

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Slavers have arrived on Mindoir and Jane must find her resilience to survive.

Jane sat with her knees tucked under her chin while she was wiping the tears from her eyes praying her mother was alright. Then she heard it. 

Gun Fire

And lots of it.

She wasn’t sure where it was coming from.

_ The House?!?! No it sounds to far away…  _

Jane then heard more explosions, explosions that would shake the structure of the barn…

Hell it sounded like a warzone outside.

_ Where is Mom? _

The panic and the worry was settling in for Jane. Her mother had not returned yet and it sounded as things were just getting worse outside. All she could do is stay in that curled up position and wait for the door to open.

This went on for hours…

_ She’s not coming back is she? _

It was dark now and the explosions had stopped, but there was still the occasional gunfire. But something worse was now happening that had Jane shaking and tears pouring down the sides of her cheeks.

Screaming…. The screaming of the damned.

These screams were unnatural, like whatever the poor souls who let them out where going through would be worse than what the dead went through. The shrieks of the damned were loud enough that they were breaching the hands that Jane put over her ears to try and block the sound. But the sick laughing or applauding that could be heard by very deep voices was chilling to the bone. It felt as though those laughs were right next to her. Like they were right on top of her.

_ With what is happening out there I hope Mother is dead and not one of those screams. _

Jane would hear these cry’s and pleas for mercy as well as the maniacal laughter and jeers for the hours breaking her sanity slowly. As all she could hope for now is that not one of these monsters would find her.

A day and night had passed where the only thing that had changed was the gunfire had ceased. The howls and laughs of the damn had not ceased. Jane was shaking and no tears remained in her eyes as all she had done since this damn attack started was cry. She wished she could just wither and die there. She wanted this horrible nightmare to be over. Or just something other than the damn screaming. It’s gotten into her head. Unfortunately the human body could sustain without food or water for more than a couple of days.

As night was approaching she noticed something different. Silence. 

_ Maybe they left? Maybe they killed everyone and left not noticing me? Or maybe everyone who had been screaming has no more left to give. I should che… _

Jane froze. The Barn door was opening and three figures walked in. 

“This seems like a good place to talk Dhagar. So what is it?” Said one of the figures.

_ Their armor looks human? Who are they? _

“You ruined our fun, Gotok! Whenever we do these missions you always put the damn cranial implants on too fast!” Yelled one of the strange men.

“Too fast? The Alliance had a patrol shift last night we had to scare away, they will probably show up with reinforcements we have to leave now with all the slaves.”

“We know that! But my men like when the humans have a little fight in them! Not these mindless drones that the Hegemony wants! We deserve a little reward for our victory.”

_ The Hegemony? Batarians! Of course it’s goddamn slavers! _

“Listen Dhagar, I’ll make this simple, The Hegemony wants a report tomorrow in person with some merchandise available to sell. So here’s what we’ll do since they will want to talk to me personally as leader of this band, I’ll take a small group of slaves and present them to The Hegemony. While I’m doing that I’ll give you the control chip access codes so you and your boys can have some more fun. I’ll tell the Hegemony that you got caught up fighting some Alliance patrol so you will be late.”

“Good ole Gotok! There’s a reason why so many pirates follow you into battle!” The Batarian said as he gave the other one a pat on the back.

The one Batarian left the barn while the other two stood there and watched him walk away.

“So where have you been Cratin?” the one Batarian asked the other.

“The House up the road.” replied the Batarian.

_ Oh God not my house… Please God no don’t let her be alive…. _

“Ohhhh find anything ‘interesting’” Dhagar said while laughing 

“Nah just a scorched corpse, looks like some bitch tried to shoot at the boys and they just flayed her alive.” 

Jane was visibly shaking, shaking enough that the ceiling was beginning to shake. Jane was no longer just scared, but now she was pissed and her biotic powers were starting to flair.

“Oof so the boys just killed her, she must have been one ugly dog if our boys just killed her instead of fu…..”

“AAAHHH” Jane screamed as she jumped down with her biotic charge landing straight on top of both Batarians. 

Now if this charge had an implant behind it maybe she could have killed them but since shepard had no implant this just knocked them down. Jane knowing she had limited time started to sprint and make a b-line for her house she needed a weapon.

“THE FUCK…. Get that bitch now Dhagar, I’ll go get some of the boys!” Screamed the Batarian who was still on his knees. 

Jane knew they had guns and the only way to survive this is she had to be faster then one Batarian behind her who was chasing her down.

Dhagar took some shots but couldn’t hit Jane as she was running too far ahead for this Batarian who had some pretty shitty aim.

“FUCK IT I AM JUST CATCHING THE BITCH!” screamed Dhagar as he put the gun over his shoulder and started to sprint.

Jane had reached the stairs to the house. She ran up as quickly as possible. But as she was at the top she heard the heavy boots of the Batarian behind her reach the stairs. Jane knew that she had a mere moment to grab the gun and be prepared to shoot at her assailant. 

_ Shit I don’t see it. I’m gonna have to use something.  _

She saw her present and the knife she used to open it. 

At this moment the Batarian came in and Jane jumped across the table and grabbed the box and the knife. The Batarian jumped and tackled her to the ground, grabbing the box out of her hand. 

“Gotcha you stupid girl!” The Batarian screamed as he punched Jane in the stomach and head. He grabbed the box out of her right hand and opened it. He laughed.

“Hahaha you went for a toy, hmmm a dumb gril like you is probably going to enjoy what happens next.” He laughed as he lowered himself closer to Jane, She took out the knife behind her back and stabbed him right in one of his eyes. And once in the left one. 

“AHHHHHH” the Batarian was screaming on the floor as the knife went deep enough to damage but not kill. Jane realising the other Batarian would be back and this one could probably still fight she crawled out from under him and found her mother’s pistol in the drawer of her room. Walking back to the kitchen where the Batarian was still screaming Jane lifted the gun up to his head and fired. His lifeless body hit the floor. 

She felt nothing. Which she thought was weird. Wasn’t she supposed to feel something? Was it because this piece of shit deserved to die? Or was it because she is broken from the last 3 days of hell. Before she could draw any more conclusions she saw the black scorch marks that were coming from the living room. Normally Jane would not even think of going towards this room which could only lead to Heartbreak and despair. But Jane felt as if she had no control over her body as if it was just gravitating to the room. As much as she fought back in her thoughts her body just continued forward. And she saw the burned corpse of her mother on the floor of the living room with a melted to her hands. 

Jane collapsed to her knees. No tears, there were none left to give only the sinking feeling of being absolutely alone. Only thing left was the crushing feeling of no hope and despair. Is this what she fought those Batarians for so she could avoid a life of mindless slavery only to be flayed alive? Why has the galaxy abandoned me? No! No more, if she has a chance left to make a damn decision in her life it will be this one. This final decision, She will end her life if it means these fucking Batarians don’t get to make the decison of how her life will go. Jane slowly lifted the gun to the temple of her head. 

She closes her eyes. 

………….

_ Okay. Breathe. _

………….

_ You Can do this….. _

_ ………… _

*Gunfire

Shepard opens her eyes. Not hers, not the batarians but ship gunfire. She looks out the window 5 Alliance Dreadnoughts in the atmosphere firing on 3 slaver frigates in their way. The sounds of Shuttles passing over head as gunfire fights erupt in the streets. 

Jane drops the gun. 

Maybe the galaxy hasn’t abandoned her just yet.

She sits there in the middle of the room next to her mother in silence and waits….

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading again! I hope you liked it!  
> I broke Mindior up in different chapters as I felt it would be too much for just one chapter! I thought the break up of chapters helps the reader!


	5. The Survivor of Mindoir

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A short Chapter about Jane Shepard's rescue from Mindoir!

2 Hours Later….

An Alliance team is approaching the house.

“Ensign what’s the status, any life signs or heat signals in this one or do we keep moving?”

“Searching Commander, I’ll let you know if we get a ping.” the ensign responded.

“I can’t believe it. This colony was a small farming colony and to receive this much devastation and destruction? For what?” one of the soldiers was questioning.

“People, Lieutenant, people. The Batarians want to hit us hard for expanding in their claimed space.” The commander responded while looking at the house with clear signs of battle.

“Sir! We Got One!” the ensign jumped.

“Friendly or Hostile Ensign?” The commander barked as the team slowly approached 

“Sir, too small to be a Batarian, assume friendly.” the Ensign replied.

The alliance crew picked up speed as they approached the stairs and front door. 

“Alliance Marines! Don’t Shoot!” The Lieutenant screamed.

“I’m going in, men, cover me!” The Commander moved in.

The Commander made his way through the front hall and into the kitchen and he saw the dead Batarian, with a knife in the eye. 

“We got a dead 4-eyes, fresh kill.” The Commander relayed to his team that were slowly creeping in. 

The Commander stepped over the Batarian and turned right when he saw a girl with fire red hair kneeling with her back turned to him.

“Friendly!” He yelled to the other Marines as they all calmed down as the situation was now in control. 

As he stepped in the room he saw how horrifying the situation was. This young girl was sitting next to a chard corpse and not moving. As he moved closer to the girl the lieutenant also reached the room.

“Oh good God..” He stuttered out as he turned out of the room 

“Get something to cover the body with, Ensign.” The Commander stated 

As he bent down the girl was still not facing him. He gently reached out his hand and touched her shoulder. 

She flinched. Like she had just been woken up. She turned and faced him. He noticed the purple blood spatter all over the front of her clothes and the balck and blue marks on her face and neck. 

_ She killed the Batarian? _

Seeing another face had woken Jane up the trance she felt that made her feel emotionless was gone and the emotions rushed to the surface. Jane grabbed hold of the commander and buried her head into his chest and started bawling her eyes out. He wrapped his arms around her and patted her head.

“It’s okay…”

“It’s okay, child..” 

“It’s over now…”

“We can take you someplace safe..”

“Don’t you worry, you're with us now child.”

The commander just sat there and held Jane for as long as she needed, until her body and mind gave way and she passed out.

“Commander Anderson.” The Lieutenant came up behind him and saluted.

“The colony is secure, the slavers have been killed or flown off.”

“And the survivors?”

“As many as we could find sir. There haven’t been too many found. The ones we could find have been flown off. More Alliance crews are landing to search for more and retrieve the dead.”

“Radio the ship Lieutenant, tell them to send the shuttle and we have a plus one. I don’t think this one's letting go. Even if she does I don’t think I have the heart to tell her to.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you as always for reading! I really hope you enjoyed!  
> Please leave any constructive criticisms you have or any comments!  
> That Ends Mindoir! Once I started writing I couldn't stop!


	6. Getting The Job Done

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A chapter based on Garrus's work at C-Sec. This happens to be about the time he broke up a Batarian Slaver ring.

“Damn it! They just couldn’t have disappeared!” Garrus said as he slammed his talon on his desk. Garrus sat and stared at his computer as he continued to get frustrated with his case. 

_It had been 2 years since Garrus left the Turian Military. The life of a Turian marine wasn’t something that Garrus felt he could continue. He felt no matter how far he would advance in rank on a ship, was he really making a difference in the galaxy? Was stopping the occasional slaver who passed through Turian space really changing anything?_

_No, it was not enough for Garrus and he knew he needed to get away. He needed to make a difference._

Garrus knew something wasn’t right, 2 orphanages had reported 3 missing children and the fact that several duct rats had gone missing. He fought tooth and nail to get this case from Executor Pallin. He knew if any other C-Sec officer would have gotten this case they would have filed it away as kids missing children and hope the issue would go away. Who would care? The duct rats and orphans of the Citadel were unwanted and usually developed into criminals anyway. But Garrus wasn’t like other C-Sec officers, he had to do what was right.

_Garrus knew the only thing besides Turian military life he would be good at was C-Sec. So he had finally given into his father’s big plan for him. Garrus contacted his father and let him know that he was requesting a transfer to C-Sec and the Turian Hierarchy had approved his request. Castis was undoubtedly pleased with himself as his son was following in his footsteps._

_Castis told Garrus that he would put in a word to get him a position where he could make an immediate impact on the force. Castis was fortunately able to get Garrus a job within the detectives unit at C-Sec._

_Within the first year Garrus realized this job was going to be an ugly fight. Yes he could get things done that made a difference but he had to deal with the bureaucratic shit that would hold him back. He couldn’t get the job done because he had to worry about the rules and be careful not to make C-Sec look bad!_

Garrus sat at his computer and leaned back in his chair and couldn’t help but think there was something strange about the disappearances. Yes, duct rats go missing all the time, but when do the other duct rats report it. As if they woke up and one of their friends was missing. Sure they fall in tight holes all the time and occasionally get thrown into the keeper protein vats, but when do they go missing overnight? He couldn’t help but realise that all the children taken were human. As if they were the ones being targeted. Garrus got up from his desk and headed over to the C-Sec kitchen to get some coffee.

_Who would target humans? And not just humans but human children? Whoever is doing this is smart nevertheless. They know that these undesirables are perfect targets and that no one at C-Sec would make a fuss._

Garrus headed back to his desk with his fresh cup of dextro coffee and sat down. The orange light from his computer glaring. He began to look over the files if he missed something that would randomly blow this case wide open. He began to try and link the missing kids together if there was any link to be found except being human. When Garrus began to get frustrated he decided to call it quits for the night.

“Nothing is going to get solved, by just staring at a screen and spinning wheels.” Garrus said to himself as he began to clean up his desk. Before shutting his computer down he saw the news scroll by in the bottom of the news feed.

_Commander Shepard awarded the Star of Terra from the Alliance for her bravery and heroics on Elysium._

Garrus, out of interest clicked the link and had a quick read.

_Ambassador Udina in his speech today in front of thousands of survivors on Elysium, said that the Lt. Commander’s Heroics had not only earned her a promotion, but should spear head humanity into the Spectres. “The Council can no longer continue to ignore the Alliance, Our soldiers fight with the grit, skill and passion as any of the other race’s in the Galaxy do. We deserve our recognition!”_

_The council denied to comment on the Ambassador's speech but offered congratulations to the Alliance for their victory in defending their colony._

“Typical human, wins one battle, then demands to be put in the Spectres. I’m surprised the ambassador didn’t ask for a council seat while he was at it.” Garrus laughed to himself. 

_We had a chance to talk with the Lt. Commander about her successful defense of Elysium, here’s what she said._

_“The defense of this colony wasn’t just down to me. I had a squad, some of whom gave their lives for this colony without them I probably would be dead as well. When the attack started, the colonists didn’t just run, they helped any Alliance soldier who needed aid, I couldn’t help but feel inspired to be as brave as them.”_

_The attack was believed to be a terrorist attack by traverse pirates and slavers. The Alliance has claimed that those ships had the Batarian Hegemony behind them. This claim has not been proven and The Batarian Hegemony has disavowed any actions that were taken behind the Elysium attack._

“Batarians!” Garrus jumped up from his desk with shock in his voice. “That’s who would target humans!” 

Of course, Garrus thought it had to be slavers, with how the Alliance had been cracking down on any slaver ships near colonies after Mindoir, they needed a new cheap source of slaves. Garrus picked up his gun and headed out the office. He needed to find these slavers and end this. The only way he could catch these bastards is by staking out their hunting area. Garrus knew he needed to get to an ally of the wards that led to a duct rats hide out and wait. 

When Garrus got to a location he thought was good enough for a stake out he got to a high vantage point and set up his sniper and waited. It was nothing but silence most of the night till a speeder pulled into the alley. 

Unaware of his presence 3 Batarians stepped out of the speeder and headed to a vent. As they headed into the vent, Garrus made the call to C-Sec HQ.

“This is Agent Vakarian, I need backup immediately, I am in the lower wards watching 3 Batarian slavers attempt to kidnap some of the duct rats.”

“Agent Vakarian this is C-Sec command, the reinforcements have been alerted and are on their way, do not engage, I repeat do not engage.” 

The Batarians then crawled out of the vents with a child in each arm.

“Throw them in the back, we need to hit the orphanage on the way home. We can’t miss the quota tonight.” One of the batarians said the other two.

“Why does the Hegemony want kids Gotok?” asked one of the other Batarians who was loading the kids into the speeder.

The leader Batarian turned to face the other two and lit a cigarette and answered “Because after Mindior the Hegemony, realised that it was far more profitable to kidnap kids as they last longer than the older slaves.” 

That was all Garrus needed to hear, not only was this guy a slaver but he was also a slaver involved with the attacks on colonies. He turned off his gun’s safety and lined up a shot. The C-Sec reinforcements have not arrived yet and Garrus wasn’t letting these Batarian’s leave. 

Garrus lined up the shot on the leader and took the shot.

The Blood splatter from the head of the leader Batrian into his subordinates faces who started to duck into cover, but Garrus was able to fire and hit one of the Batarians in the neck before he got to cover.

The Batarian fell to the ground and purple blood spurted from his neck as he gasped for air on the floor. 

The last Batarian standing pulled out his gun and started firing over the speeder and stood up screaming while he fired in the direction of Garrus.

Either he had terrible aim or he had no clue where Garrus was, but Garrus lined up the shot and fired. 

The Batarians weapon fell silent and the his body hit the floor. The sound of the approaching C-Sec vehicles flooded the alley.

Garrus climbed down from his vantage point and untied the kids who thanked him for saving their lives. 

_Damn that felt good. Making a difference sure is fulfilling._

Garrus was smiling as he turned to the other officers who approached him.

“Agent Vakarian?” One officer asked.

“Hmm..” Garrus said as he stopped and listened to the Officer.

“We have been ordered to inform you that Executor Pallin wishes to speak to you, we’ll handle this from here.”

He headed to Pallin’s office.

“You took the Shot? After I specifically replied not to?” Executor Pallin demanded while staring at Garrus.

“Sir, the reinforcements were late and there was no guarantee that they wouldn’t have gotten away so I made the call.” Garrus responded with a hint of anger in his voice as he was expecting praise not to be defending himself for a successful mission.

“And what if one of the Batarians used a child as a hostage, did you not think you could have put the victims in immediate danger?” 

“Sir I….” Garrus started but realised whatever he could say to an accusation like that would piss him or the Executor off. 

“Because of your rashness we can’t find out who this Gotok’s dealings were within the Batarian Hegemony. When we file this case now, even if we say Gotok was carrying out their orders they will just deny any involvement with him.”

Garrus couldn’t believe it, he got the job down and made a difference, but was being reprimanded because of hypotheticals. Pallin sat back down and relaxed a bit seeing, that Garrus was no longer smiling like he was when he walked into his office. 

“Listen kid, I’m not given congratulations, because I expect you to solve case’s like this. Your Castis’ Vakarians son. A case like this is a softball to someone like him. It seems the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, but you acted recklessly and impatiently. You have to follow protocol, it’s there for a reason. So go home, get some rest and be at your desk tomorrow.”

“Understood sir.” Garrus said as he headed to the door. 

Garrus sat down on his bed and turned on the tv, it was on some stupid tabloid celebrity drama show. 

As he took off his armor he felt the waves of sleep starting to come over him, it had been a while since he got this case where he could just relax and sleep. 

As he was getting ready to turn off his TV he noticed a picture of the LT. Commander pops up on the screen. He made the volume louder to hear what the hosts of the show were saying. 

“Maybe she could be the first human spectre no?” The Salarian said.

“No way, way too pretty to be on a battlefield, probably hid until the reinforcements came but got recognition because she’s a woman.I mean I could probably take her in a fight, look how small she is compared to me.” The human male said.

Garrus snorted, _Not only was this man being extremely sexist, but he was pretty sure the LT. Commander could kill this guy one handed._

“Well most of the Asari Spectres are beautiful and deadly, why can’t she be both?” The Asari asked.

“What do you think?” The Asari turned and asked the Turian on the couch. 

Garrus found himself zoning out whatever they were saying, something about if the Turian was attracted to her or something like that but Garrus was just staring at the Lt. Commander’s picture. There was something about her that was so unique, Red Fringe or hair as human’s call it, those bright green eyes and those strange dot’s on her face. Something was making Garrus memorize it. Did he think she was beautiful or was he just fascinated with how this human looked? When he finally snapped out of it he heard the male human say “I’d hit that!”. This made Garrus turn off the TV and let sleep take over him.

As sleep took over Garrus, he couldn’t help but feel proud, he got the job done and made a difference, maybe C-Sec would give him some more space to get results in the future. Maybe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed. Please leave any constructive comments about anything!  
> Thank You!!


	7. Politicians and Their Speeches

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jane Shepard stands behind a makeshift stage preparing to receive her award for her role in the Skylian Blitz.

“Good evening ladies and gentlemen, we stand here, in the heart of our colony, victorious! We have shown the metal of the alliance, and prevailed Victorious to this invasion of the Skyllian Verge. We have especially shown the Council species that not only can we establish colonies, but defend them if we must….” 

_Ambassador Udiana began his speech on the makeshift stage the Alliance had set up on Elysium. Udiana wanted to have the Medal Ceremony in the colony as it shows the confidence the Alliance has in defending itself. It had been two weeks since the attack, enough to clean up the bodies and make sure the Skyllian Verge was secure. Udiana wanted the ceremony done fast so he could proposition the council for a human spectre. Especially with how successful one of the Alliances soldiers had been._

_Does Udiana ever stop politicizing everything?_

Lt. Commander Jane Shepard stood on the behind the stage with the rest of the Alliance Marines in her dress blues listening to the Ambassador drone on with his speech. 

“Typical Udiana. We hold off a Batarian Slaver raid with barely any troops and he touts it as a way to get a promotion to a council seat.” The man on Shepard’s right chimed in.

Shepard grinned and responded “Well you know Politicians and their speeches go hand and hand. Do you ever think he gets tired of hearing himself? Or do you think he just enjoys the smugness in his voice?”

The man chuckled to himself “I guess when you have been stuck on the Citadel as long as him, you probably do start believing the whole galaxy revolves around yourself.”

Shepard laughed and tuned back into what the ambassador was saying.

“We are not only here to honor the fallen, but to honor one of our own, a fine soldier and a hero!”

_Hero. Pfft. Yeah right, I feel more like a war criminal than anything else. I should be locked in a brig somewhere not about to be on stage receiving a medal._

Shepard zoned out looking down at her hands as if they were still blood stained purple. She could never forgive herself for what she did.

“What’s wrong kid? You should be proud of what you did.” The man asked as he saw Shepard’s mood change from joking to deadly serious.

“I just wish you got there sooner, Anderson.” Shepard replied.

*

Shepard stands at her workbench cleaning her Katana shotgun thoroughly. This was Shepard’s favorite spot in Elysium, her work bench in the corner of the Vehicle Depot. Her comrades would always try to get under her skin, by messing with her precious workbench. They would move the cleaning supplies or misplace the mods she had ready to go on her guns. Anything to get a rise out of her, most of her subordinates thought she was a little too uptight. 

As Shepard cleaned her gun, a shuttle approached and landed in the depot. Her squad got out and all approached.

“And there she is! Our fearless leader! No doubt cleaning her Katana for the 13th time today!” said a soldier approaching her with his hands in the air.

Shepherds squad was made up of 5 marines. Ramirez, Elliot, Nance, Johnson and Peters. All 6 of them had been together for about 2 years. Ever since basic training Shepard and her squad had been together. 

“As I said many times Ramirez, you don’t advance in rank by dressing like a slob or by wearing last week's throw up on your armor.. Geez that thing still stinks.” Shepard said while keeping her attention on cleaning her weapon. Ramirez let out a nervous laugh as he scratched the back of his head, while the rest of the squad laughed at his expense. 

“Well I didn’t get a chance to clean it. Besides it wasn’t like an admiral was stopping by to check regs.” Ramirez with his cheeks now blushing with embarrassment.

“Still that thing reeks, hose it off or get the hell off the base.” Shepard replied starkly.

As Ramirez headed to hose off and clean his armor a young Alliance woman stepped up to Shepard.

“Report Elliot?” Shepard asked as she turned to give the woman and the squad her full attention.

“Nothing out of the ordinary to report today, Lt. Commander. No smugglers or dealers, maybe our last raid has scared them off. We haven’t seen anything on patrol this past month.” 

Elysium the past months, where having trouble with red sand dealers trying to entice young colonists with their drugs and clubs and local bars. Shepard was assigned to Elysium to find the drug dealers and finish them on Elysium. 

“She’s probably right ma’am we hit them hard with that raid, we burned half of their stock while racking up a pretty high body count, no way they come back.” Nance replied. 

“Still we have to keep patrols going, Until the alliance relocates us we keep doing our daily tasks. Still, good work, you're dismissed for the night, try not to cause too much trouble at the club tonight.”

The squad all light up with smiles. While the young man looked and said “ We’ll try LC but someone has to make a bad name for us Alliance ‘types’!” 

Elliot took a step forward and looked concernedly and Shepard and asked “You should come out with us tonight? When was the last time you took a break and had drinks with us?”

Shepard smiled and replied “Probably since we went to that one club where the sleazy owner kept telling me how I put the Asari to shame with my biotics and my looks.”

Elliot laughed but replied “So? Maybe this time will be better, you deserve a break! Come on it will be fun. We can drink or dance.”

“Dance and fun? Those words don’t usually go together with me.” Shepard replied with a chuckle “But since you think I deserve a break so much, I’ll stop by later tonight for a drink!”

Elliot’s eyes light up. “Awesome, you won’t regret it! The squad is going to love this!” she exclaimed.

The squad took off their armor and got dressed and headed to the shuttle.

“What time can we expect you LC?” Ramirez asked. 

“Later I still have to shut up shop and turn on the colony's defenses. I promise I’ll be there before last call.” Shepard replied, she turned and waved and headed to the defense operations system. 

  
  


“Unidentified Aircraft In Alliance Space!” The depots VI, alarmed the base. Shepard turned to the shuttle with her squad heading to Illyria, they were still out of the city and too far away from the base. The shuttle never stood a chance. Blown right out of the sky in front of her eyes. 

_Nope. Can’t think about it. Not now. Fight now, mourn later._

She turned to see what had fired at the shuttle leaving the base. 5 Batarian Cruisers making their descent to Illyria. 

_Not again._

The flood of emotions filled Shepard, not just grief but anger and hate. This time would be different. This time she was a trained alliance marine. This time she had armor, a shotgun and an L-5 implant. This time the Batarian’s would know not to mess with a human colony again. 

Shepard sprinted to the defense operations system and powered up the cyclone shielding around the city of Illyria, this would stop the dreadnoughts from being able to bomb or land in the city. They would have to deal with the Alliance base first. The Batarian’s would need to destroy the defense operations system and that would lead them right to Shepard who will make their lives a living hell. 

The Cruisers fired at the base but had no effect. Most Alliance bases had been upgraded since Mindoir to have shields that gave their bases a longer resistance, as pre mindior two to three shots from a dreadnought cannon and the base would be a smoldering ruin. 

Shepard saw the dreadnoughts began their approach in shuttles, she knew she needed to do one final thing before it started.

“Alliance Command, this is Lt. Commander Jane Shepard of the 103 division. Elysium is under heavy attack from Batarian Slavers. The defense cyclone is armed and forces are approaching the base, requesting backup immediately.”

“We read you Lt.Commander, the SSV-Agincourt is en-route ETA 12 hours.”

_12 hours? Guess it’s better than 3 days. But this is going to be a tough fight._

_I would have a better chance if I had my sq…_

_No, I can't think about them. Fight Now. Mourn Later._

_The Batarian’s think they can pull another Mindoir? Well I ain’t letting one of these 4 eye’d shits get a single Colonists!!_

“Roger that Alliance Command, I’ll make sure Elysium is still standing when they get here. Shepard out.” She said as she suited up and ready her weapon.

“Let’s do this!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed!
> 
> Elysium should be finished in the next chapter!


	8. A Bloody Hero

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shepard's Ceremony continues as she relives the horrible memory of the Battle for Elysium.

“Please put your hands together and welcome back a hero to this city and entire colony, Lt.Commander Shepard!” Udiana said as he pointed to the side stage where Shepard was waiting for her signal to go on. Every Member of the audience got on their feet and whistled and clapped some even hollered. 

As Shepard walked onto the stage she couldn’t help but be blown away. Shepard relized that Udiana was smart enough to make the ceremony free to the public so almost all of Illyria was there. Hell the whole planet of Elysium would have been there if they could. They all wanted to see their hero receive the praise she deserved. 

“Joining her on the stage are the brave engineers and colonists who assisted the Lt. Commander in the Vehicle Depot during the attack. The Lt. Commander has assured me that without their heroics we all wouldn’t be standing here today.” The same joy and happiness that the ambassador was using for the rest of his speech had mellowed out when introducing them on the stage. 

Shepard couldn’t help but smirk.

Shepard had insisted that if she was going to receive the Star of Terra, the people who made it possible needed to be on that stage with her. Of course Udina had attempted to deny the decision but messing with Shepard and her demands was stupid. She simply stated “If they aren’t on that stage, I won’t be on that stage. Choice is yours Ambassador.”

“And now for the presentation of the Star of Terra. Usually we have former Star of Terra recipients present the Honor.However, the Lt. Commander has requested Captain Anderson of the N7 Program and SSV Tokyo be the one to present the honor.” 

Anderson stepped up on to the stage and greeted each engineer and colonists. They all stood at attention as he passed. He got to Shepard and turned to her. 

“Congratulations Lt.Commander, your skill in battle and bravery against insurmountable odds deserved to be recognized by the Alliance and Humanity.” Anderson stated as they shook hands and he gave her a smile and wink.

_ It had to be Anderson. Who else could give me a medal? One of the only reasons I'm here on this stage is because of Anderson. The man who saved me. The man who gave me a home after Mindoir. The man who took me under his wing and trained me to be the best. I owe Anderson everything and his praise did make this whole shitshow a little more pleasant. _

As Anderson and Udiana continued the ceremony, awarding medals to the colonists and engineers for their bravery, when they turned to Shepard with the Star of Terra ribbon, her negative thoughts couldn’t help but creep back in, the guilt and doubt.

_ Did she deserve this? Even after what she did? _

_ * _

“Light em up!” Shepard screamed to the two Alliance engineers hiding behind their turrets on the second floor of the Vehicle Depot.

The Turrets began to roar as Shepard could hear the bullet casings dropping down the floor next to her. She pulled up her omni-tool which read 6:00, Shepard had been holding the vehicle depot for about 10 hours and she’d been pushed to the brink. 

Wave after wave the Batarians kept coming, trying different ways to get into the base. First they tried the backdoor but Shepard was a step ahead of them. Not only did she fry the door to make sure the Batarians would have to physically open the door, she also left them a surprise. When the bastards opened the door they were greeted with a whole shit ton of explosives that made the backdoor completely useless. Shepard left one way to get into the base. Through the huge front door where the Vehicle Depot was. Just how she wanted it, make these Batarian bastards go right through her.

She was letting a single Batarian through no matter the cost. Shepard had promised herself that she wouldn’t let them through, she wasn’t letting another Mindoir happen, certainly not on her watch. 

The turrets firing was kinda mesmerizing as Shepard sat there collecting herself and reloading her weapons. The thing about the turrets were they could never work right. The two engineers that were on base with her could fix the turrets but they could only fire for about 10-15 minutes, then would take another hour to fix them and reload them again. Maybe with a full alliance crew it would be faster and more efficient. But it was worth it to Shepard; it made sure she didn’t burn out, and it gave her a little time to patch herself up and eat a rations bar. She would rather have the alliance engineers working on that instead of joining her in the field, out there they would become a distraction. Batarians always focus fire on weaker units and Shepard would have to cover for them and her. 

As Shepard was reloading a young man and woman ran up to her from inside the base. No Alliance clothing or anything, this man and woman were colonists who would trade supplies with the base and were stuck on the base as the invasion began. Shepard had ordered them to hunker down in the base, but whenever Shepard would return to the depot while the turrets were firing, these two would run out to her with supplies. 

“Medi-gel? Rations? Anything you need this time Lt.Commander?” The woman asked.

“No fortunately my barrier held that last wave, I was able to weave through the Batarian ranks without taking any damage.” Shepard said as she looked up and smiled at them.

“I would still prefer it if you would stay in that damn bunker, but I can’t say I don’t appreciate your courage.” She continued. 

“The Alliance reinforcements should be here in the next hour, when that happens I want you to go to the engineers and tell them to divert power from the cyclone shielding to the front gates and raise them.” Shepard stated. 

“Yes, Ma’am” The young man and woman saluted as they headed back inside.

An engineer put his finger up from behind the turret, which was Shepard’s single that she had one minute until the turrets stopped firing.

She stood up and activated her barrier. Readied her shotgun and closed her eyes.

_ Hannah Shepard, Age 52. Incinerated to death by Batarian Slavers when she tried to defend herself. _

_ Everytime I pull the trigger and one of these fuckers is on the receiving end. One less Hannah Shepard and Jane Shepard have their lives stolen away from them.  _

_ This is for Mom! _

Shepard biotic charged into battle as soon as the turrets stopped firing.

As a Vanguard, Shepard had to get close and personal with the Batarians. Unfortunately for them they had to get close to her as the only way to the base was through her. 

She used her biotic charge, and shockwaves. Hell Shepard used every biotic ability she could think of. She used grenades, mines and even omni-tool tech to keep the batarians bogged down. 

But she never stopped shooting her shotgun no matter what. 

The wear and tear was starting to show as she couldn’t hear the firing of ships against the cyclone anymore or the screams of terror of the Batarians as she cut right through them.

Her vision became tunneled as she could only see their faces when she was killing them. The worst part was she was enjoying it. Smiling while she went into foxhole to foxhole.

When the SSV-Agincourt was firing and taking out the enemy cruisers, she didn’t hear it. She just kept shooting and took out every Batarian in range. When the gates went up to trap the slavers she didn’t stop.

When the slavers dropped their guns and raised their hands in surrender, she stopped.

“Please Mercy!” the Batarian cried out.

_ What mercy did my mom receive? What type of Mercy did the colonists of Mindior receive? What Mercy would they have given to the colonists of Elysium? No. No Mercy for them ever. _

Shepard looked up and smiled at the Batarian.

Shepard fired her weapon killing the unarmed Batarian, but she wasn’t done. Every Batarian was guilty in her eyes and she would enact her revenge on all of them. 

She blacked out.

“Lt.Commader!” 

Shepard awoke painting and out of breath sitting on the chest of someone.

“Lt. Commander, I think you got him.” The Alliance soldier was screaming at her. 

“Huh?” Shepard said as she looked down to see a Batarian’s brains all over her weapon and armor.

Shepard had run out of ammo before the last Batarian stuck in the base was cornered by her. But that didn’t stop Shepard who was blinded by rage and took her weapon to the Batarians skull and mashed his brains until it was paste.

“I...I.. didn’t...k.” Shepard started to speak but she couldn’t. It wasn’t because her body was and mind were fatigued from the heavy fighting she endured for the previous 12 hours of fighting. But because she was horrified. What had she done? She killed about 20 unarmed Batarians! What the hell did she do?

“Don’t worry LC. Those bastards had it coming and no one here is going to report that they had dropped their weapons.” The alliance soldier said as he pulled up the Lieutenant Commander and brought her to the shuttle.

The Alliance soldier continued as he put her in a chair on the shuttle. “The colony has been secured, LC. We're taking you to the SSV-Agincourt. When we showed up we tore right through the cruisers and blew them to smithereens. The colony is safe thanks to you… you’re a bloody hero.”

But Shepard wasn’t listening, she was dozing off as she could only look at her hands and see the Batarian covered blood on her armor. As she doze off only one word repeated in her mind.

_ Monster. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you guys for reading! I hope you enjoyed!  
> Please leave any criticisms or comments that you have!   
> The next chapter will be the last chapter pertaining to Elysium.


	9. Rain Check?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shepard needs a drink and a dirty shitty bar in the wards will do just fine.

Shepard got dressed in her civies and decided to hit the wards. After the ceremony on Elysium, Shepard was given an extended shore leave. Not because the Alliance thought she deserved it but because the Alliance Brass was in a gridlock on how to use her status for their gain.

Ideas were floated around and tossed out like they were going through baby names.

Maybe Shepard should get her own ship?

Maybe Shepard should go into politics?

Maybe Shepard should go from colony to colony to boost recruitment?

So this left Shepard stuck on the citadel for a week. The apartment she rented out for the past 3 years was a shitty little studio apartment that was cheap enough to put her in one of the more dangerous parts of the wards.

Shepard used to hate where she lived, it was too far from the base and no one she deployed with was ever near her. But with what had happened to her now she loved the apartment. 

Every bar or club in the safer areas of the wards was now a zoo to be in. Every Alliance soldier wanted to drink with her. The Alliance paparazzi would always harass her, while the aliens in the bar would just shake their heads and laugh at the human circus.

The shitty bar across the street from her apartment became a God send. The liquor was cheap and no one knew her or cared. Perfection.

“Levo Whiskey, No Ice.” Shepard said as she pulled herself up on the bar stool.

The Turian Bartender mandibles fluttered, and he responded “I don’t know if you should…”

“Whiskey.” Shepard responded with a dead stare which flustered the Turian even more as he started to whip up her drink.

She sat there with her drink, the solace she received from her thoughts was only temporary. The darkness of the pleasure she felt while killing those unarmed Batarians felt like they were a shadow wrapping itself around her. Did killing those men bring her mother back? Did killing those men wipe away the nightmares of mindior? Or did it add new faces to join the terrors that wait every night for her in her dreams?

“I see you found yourself some safe haven from all your adoring fans.” Anderson said as he patted Shepard on the shoulder.

Shepard stood at attention. 

“Sir! What the hell are you doing in a place like this?” Shepard said while saluting.

“Please at ease there Shepard,I wondered where you could have snuck off to.I see the Alliance Bar’s not to your liking then?” Anderson said as he raised his eyebrows as he scanned over Shepard like there was something wrong with her.

“No. They're fine, I just am good friends with the bartender.” Shepard responded dryly as the bartender hummed with grief.

“Then what’s wrong Shepard?” Anderson replied and continued as he cut off Shepards response which he knew was going to be the same evasive answer of I’m Fine.

“I noticed on the stage you looked as if you were attending a funeral instead of a ceremony. What’s wrong kid?” Anderson asked.

Shepard sighed and downed the rest of her drink.

“I assume you read the report on Elysium.” Shepard asked.

“Of course, Hackett forwarded me the necessary info.” Anderson replied.

“Then you know that the Alliance lied about the events that took place there. 20 unarmed batarians were murdered after trying to surrender, after laying down their arms. They were murdered by a psychopath and instead of reprimanding her they strapped a medal on to her chest.” Shepard could feel the rage and tears burning within her.

“They lied so they could play politics with the council, not giving a damn whether I actually deserve the praise I get. What kind of hero mows down 20 unarmed men?” She gave a slight sarcastic chuckle. “You think they’ll put that on the recruitment poster? ‘Humanity’s hero The Butcher of Elysium’.” 

Shepard looked down at her glass now empty. Just as empty as she felt.

“Do you think my mother would be proud of what I did? Or do you think she would be disgusted just as much as I am?” Shepard asked, not at David but just out loud.

“So you think, you’re not a hero? You think giving into the darkness that was consuming you was what defines your actions? No you’re wrong, Shepard. One mistake doesn’t undo what you did.” Anderson replied, shaking his head.

“But, sir..” Shepard turned and looked at Anderson with anger in her eyes.

“Shepard, you killed 20 unarmed batarians after you spent 12 hours fighting off 10,000 of them single handedly with the help of 4 non-combatants. If the stress of those 12 hours didn’t make you break, then maybe it was the weight of being known as the survivor of Mindior at basic training. You told me for years you were treated as an outcast because everyone knew your back story. You were isolated and pushed to your limits with no one to lean on for support. And if that didn’t make you break maybe it was the stress of Mindoir itself. 3 Days listening to these Batarian bastards rape,kill and destroy the home you love. Breaking to that stress is not what defines a hero. You know what defines a hero Shepard? It’s when they put the safety and well being of others in front of their own. It’s when they get honored for something and they share their achievements with those that stood by them. It’s when they make their mistakes and instead of hiding them, they step up and own them.” Anderson replied with a fierce look at Shepard as the words hit home for her. She couldn’t find the words to reply.

“You gave into the lust of revenge Shepard. Revenge is a dark and cold path. It leaves you hollow and alone. But I still believe in you Shepard. You want to get past this feeling? You already took the first step. Instead of claiming justice, you know your actions were wrong. The next part is more tricky, you need others to pull you up and dust you off. But I think I can help you with this one.”

Anderson reached into his pocket and pulled out a box. He handed it to her and said “Hackett made the call tonight.”

Shepard opened the box and saw the Commander Emblem sitting in the box.

“I’ll make sure you earn it Commander, Your new assignment comes with it.” Anderson said as he chuckled.

“Sir?” 

“You have been assigned to the SSV-Tokyo as my XO. You are to report to the docks tomorrow at 0600. You were worried about politics, don’t be. Ain’t no politicians stepping a foot on my ship.” Anderson saluted Shepard. Shepard stood at attention once more and saluted the Captain again. “Yes Sir!”

Anderson left the bar and Shepard plopped back down in her stool and admired her new rank.

As she ran her fingers over the emblem, she couldn’t help but think to herself smiling.

_ So Commander Shepard? I hope that bastard can see me from hell. I guess there is going to be a Commander Shepard after all? Huh? _

But Shepard knew she had to earn this. If she wanted to prove her own doubts wrong and prove that she deserved it she would need to work hard. She wasn’t going to let the darkness win.

As Shepard was sitting there the bar was getting busier and busier. Shepard was too engrossed in her own thoughts to notice this. If she had she would have cut out as soon as possible. A human in this type of bar is a sure fire way to start trouble.

As Shepard got up and turned to leave a Turian walked right into her spilling his drink all over her. 

“You dumb human bitch!” The Turian blurted out as he was clearly intoxicated, rocking back and forth as if he was on a ship.

“You ran into me!” Shepard barked back.

“Typical filthy human, starts breaking shit then cries foul. Probably will bring this up at her embassy.” The Turian said loud enough to get a laugh from some of the patrons at the bar.

“Now you owe me a drink, so pay up.” The Turian slurred out as Shepard was trying to dry herself with napkins..

“Fuck no, you ran into me, if anything you owe me a drink.Let’s just call it even and forget about it.” Shepard retorted. 

The Turian then slapped the box out of her hand. “Fine, if you fuck with my shit, I fuck with your shit.” 

Shepard gave him a grin and said “Well I guess you ruined my shirt, I ruined yours so let’s call it even huh?”

“But I didn’t …” 

_ Wham _

Shepard’s forehead went full force into the Turian’s mouth.

“AGGH FUCK” the Turian screamed as the blood came out of his mouth, bleeding on his shirt.

“See, your shirt has some nasty stains on it, you might one get that cleaned up.” Shepard said as she crossed her arms. She knew what was coming next, the same old right fist, this wasn’t her first bar fight with a racist alien. 

The Turian stood up and swung violently, “YOU STUPID HUMAN CUNT…” He swung violently as Shepard ready her dodge and counter, a hand caught the Turian’s arm.

“I think you’ve had enough, Pylus.” Another Turian stood there staring down the bloodied and drunk Turian. He was C-Sec obviously, the blue and black suit gave him away.

“What are you a human lover now, Vakarian?” the drunk Turian stumbled. 

“No, I just know if you get your ass kicked, I’ll have to cover your shift tomorrow and there’s not a chance in hell i’m doing that.” The C-Sec Turian replied. The C-Sec Turian shoved the drunk Turian out of the bar and returned to Shepard as she was picking up her military box.

“Sorry about that, Pylus is usually not that blatant with his hate for aliens, but once the drinks get going his worst comes out.” The C-Sec officer said as he scratched the back of his head.

“No problem. I have dealt with drunks before. But I still appreciate the assist. Vakarian was it?” Shepard said as she gave him a warm smile.

“Yes, Ma’am. Garrus Vakarian. It’s a pleasure to meet you Lt. Commander.” Garrus replied as he held out his arm for a handshake.

Shepard shook his hand and looked into his eyes. They were absolutely gorgeous, a bright blue that reminded her of the bright blue sky of Mindior. Maybe all Turian's had gorgeous eyes and she hadn't noticed it. She snapped out of her thoughts and she questioned him “So you know who I am?”

“You kidding? Red Fringe is pretty rare for your species if I understand. And I mean your face has been plastered all over the Citadel as the new face of Humanity. You know full right celebrity status.” Garrus joked, giving her a smile.

Shepard gave him a frown and jokingly said “I know, please don’t remind me. I can’t believe there’s paparazzi for soldiers.” 

“So Lt. Commander can I get you a drink, you know to make up for the asshole who spilled half his drink on your shirt?” Garrus asked.

“As much as I would love to, I gotta be up at 0500 tomorrow as I ship out tomorrow. Rain check?”

“I’ll take you up on the Lt. Commander, Good luck out there.” Garrus and they shook hands goodbye. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a little longer than i thought it would be because I rewrote the chapter to happen on the Citadel so Garrus and Shepard could have a little scene together.  
> Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed!  
> Leave any comments or criticisms you have!


End file.
